It never ends!

This week I am reminded why I hate traveling! These are the reasons:

1.Before every vacation it takes me at least a day (if not two) to wash all the clothes so I can pack them.

2. I then have to pack everyone's things. Sometimes Kaleb will pack his own things, especially after the time when I forgot to pack his underwear. (SHHH, don't tell him I told you that!) Packing for four kids can be very overwhelming, although I have to admit it's always packing my own things (and realizing that I own very few pieces of clothing without stains or holes) that takes me the longest.

3. After all the suitcases are packed we then have to put everything in the van. Lucky for me this has always been Kaleb's job. Unfortunately we are always waiting on Kaleb to come home from work so he can load up the van (why do we always leave "after work"????).
The driving part of the trip is actually not that bad since we discovered books on CD at the library. Sometimes, though, it's hard to pick out an appropriate one for our boys. Last time I abruptly ended the book we were listening to after the boy narrating it started to talk about his mom's menstrual cycle (I knew this would come up in a very awkward conversation later on). For the most part the books keep the boys entertained and quiet. Hallelujah for that!!!

4. After getting home Kaleb unloads the van, but again, unfortunately for me, this only means that the stuff that was once packed tightly into the back of the van is now parked either on the kitchen counter or lying somewhere in my entry way.

5. It never fails, it always takes me a minimum of three days (okay, actually more like a week) to completely unpack everything, wash the dirty laundry, and put everything away.

We just experienced this whole cycle last week and I have yet to recover! And joy for me we are planning on another trip after Christmas!! Most of the time I do it because it is worth the trouble to get away from the house for awhile and see all our relatives who live far away!